ABSTRACT
I can introduce my topic, and my approach to it, by reference to Ludwig Wittgenstein and to the perspectives that his thought forces us to face.1 His philosophy has been interpreted in a variety of ways. For my present purposes, by far the best starting-point for understanding him is what might be called the nihilist interpretation of Wittgenstein. This line of interpretation has been expounded particularly eloquently by Burton Dreben. It takes its clue from the fact that Wittgenstein believed, and said, that traditional philosophical problems are due to confusions and mistakes concerning the way our language works. Those so-called problems cannot be solved, they can only be dissolved.
